The Sea Ranch Golf Links

About
Sea Ranch Golf Links opened in 1974 as one of the first Scottish links-style golf courses to be built in the Western United States. The front nine stretches along the rugged North Coast, offering plenty of scenic ocean views, while the back nine moves inland, incorporating the small creeks that meander across the landscape. Mature redwoods and natural sea grass rough accent the golf course, especially along the fairways to provide some challenges. The design is noted for blending seamlessly with the scenic surroundings. While the golf course can seem intimidating, four diverse sets of tees make it more approachable for a range of skill levels. In addition to the course, Sea Ranch is also popular for its practice facilities, which include an all-grass driving range and two short game areas with putting and chipping greens.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 72 | 6649 yards | 72.5 | 130 |
Blue | 72 | 6233 yards | 71.0 | 125 |
White | 72 | 5439 yards | 67.4 | 117 |
White (W) | 72 | 5439 yards | 71.2 | 124 |
Red | 72 | 4805 yards | 68.2 | 117 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 72.5/134 | 525 | 341 | 224 | 375 | 406 | 545 | 379 | 190 | 390 | 3375 | 307 | 370 | 223 | 501 | 547 | 380 | 385 | 160 | 401 | 3274 | 6649 |
Blue M: 71.1/127 | 501 | 321 | 197 | 355 | 382 | 518 | 334 | 158 | 369 | 3135 | 277 | 358 | 207 | 486 | 525 | 356 | 373 | 148 | 368 | 3098 | 6233 |
White M: 67.4/116 W: 71.5/122 | 439 | 294 | 171 | 288 | 354 | 482 | 301 | 125 | 315 | 2769 | 243 | 312 | 134 | 406 | 400 | 338 | 315 | 135 | 303 | 2586 | 5355 |
Red W: 68.5/114 | 411 | 253 | 125 | 267 | 308 | 457 | 270 | 107 | 297 | 2495 | 215 | 277 | 91 | 395 | 392 | 307 | 269 | 85 | 264 | 2295 | 4790 |
Handicap | 7 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 10 | |||
Par | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
Handicap (W) | 7 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 12 |
Course Details
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 1, Par 5, 525 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 5, Par 4, 406 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 8, Par 3, 190 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 8, Par 3, 190 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 9, Par 4, 390 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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The Sea Ranch Golf Links, Hole 17, Par 3, 160 yds Photo submitted by DYakimec on 01/13/2025
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8th Hole Par 3 Photo submitted by mpeters707 on 08/07/2020
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Par 3 8th green. Probably the most picturesque hole on the course. Photo submitted by Richard4180889 on 02/19/2018
Nice course, manager has no clue!!
A nice course especially considering the amount of rain lately but the manager is way out of his depth. Doesn’t play the game, doesn’t know the game and is rude especially when three or so people approach the counter. He seems to get overwhelmed. Has no people skills whatsoever. Ownership could do way better!! Others working the counter are great.
Nice layout in beautiful location
Well worth the stop. On the shorter side, but trouble if you spray shots, and some forced carries. Holes 8, 9, 11, 16 and 17 are world class.
A Course Worth Playing
Have always wanted to play this course so I made a reservation and went up, got a hot deal on golfnow. It is a little bit of a road trip but the drive up along the coast is breathtaking, make it a weekend of golf and road trip. The course is very nice, great layout and some very nice views. I might also add there were probably more deer than golfers this day. I was early but they let me go out and I had a great round of golf. The fairways were in great shape, sand traps had sand and the greens were fast but were among the best I have played on all year. The fellow golfers were repairing their divots, I only had to repair one all day. There are some challenging holes with some forced carries but very playable. They have a snack bar where you can get a hot dog and something to drink. Go up and play this course now while the weather is perfect. I would recommend this course to everyone.
True Links course. Very nice
Every hole is unique & interesting. Nice views of the ocean, not crowded, super value.
Great looks
Great course ever hole had a different look had to choose clubs careful didn't garb a driver on each hole.
Great design-Greens plugged
The weather the day I played was picture perfect, about 80 with just a hint of wind. I have always enjoyed this Robert Muir Graves designed course. You have to think your way around the course. Of course being right on the Pacific Ocean is a plus.
Unfortunately the greens had been recently been plugged, something I was not aware of when I booked this round. The day before I played one of the course pros told me the greens had been plugged 2 week ago and were a little bumpy. They looked and played like they were plugged 3 days ago. They were horrible. Automatic 2 putt greens.
VERY NICE COURSE
True links course without continuation from 9 to ten. Every hole is unique & requires all the shots in your bag. Can be a bit breezy, but the fairways & greens are in top shape (not the cart paths) & the views are terrific
Coastal Links Course Good Value
Nice Robert Muir Graves Design; front 9 is original 9, very old world design. Back 9 was built in the 1960's, a little more modern feel than the front. Nice layout but wish there were more holes on the ocean. Greens were soft and slow but not a bad golf course
Needs serious maintenance
Been looking forward to playing Sea Ranch for some time now. What a disappointment. Other than a decent and challenging layout, there was not much else, although the views were nice. The course was very dry and the rough and the fairways were hard to distinguish between them (I realize this is a links course). The fairways were more like pastures and the cart felt like it had square wheels as there were so many bumps and pits - my bag actually flew off the cart even though it was strapped in one bump was so bad. I was never sure I would be in a hole or in deep grass on the fairway - so winter rules had to apply. The greens were like playing a pinball machine and extremely slow (at least not many three putts). Even the sand traps were crusty. This course has so much potential, but as it is I cannot justify even $58 for a twilight round.
Sad Drought Conditions
If this course was in great conditions it would be a challange. Definitely not a "resort course." Given the lack of watering and lack of maintenance (can't blame it entirely on the drought) this course plays much much harder. I had no less than three decent shots kick off of sloped hardpan into junk and lost.
Definitely recommend playing from the white tees your first time out even if you're a single-digit handicap. I am a 15 hdcp and made the mistake of going from the blues and played by myself so no course knowledge other than an iPhone GPS app, which tells nothing about conditions of course. lots of blind teeshots. I shot a 94 with only one three-putt on 18. Greens were in great shape with painted-in white holes like on Tour. Bunkers were packed, wet dirt as far as I could tell. Rest of the course was poor with hardpan and weeds where there should be fairway. I'm not talking about areas they're purposely not watering like the first 100yds or so of a par 4 just past the tee boxes. We're talking landing areas and 100 in from the green where you'd hit a wedge.
The course was nearly empty on a Sunday during summer. So it was very strange for the gentleman in the proshop to tell me I couldn't move my teetime to play a little later in the morning without paying more (I got a discounted web rate). Any other near empty course I've played usually has a "thank you for playing here" attitude and this guy seemed to miss that memo.
If you stay in the Sea Ranch / Gualala area this is the only course. Just beware and pray for rain and perhaps a new irrigation system for the course. Bring lots of extra balls and an attitude to match.
*I will post photos along with a copy of this review on Yelp. No photos on GolfAdvisor.com apparently.
Beautiful course on the Pacific
Beautiful course, never too busy. Greens are in pretty good shape, but differ in speed from hole to hole, making them a bit challenging to read. Amazingly different looks from hole to hole as well, so it never gets boring, even after playing it over 10 times.
I would recommend the course if you are in the area.
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